Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Another spammer bites the dust, again...

First, huge fines in the millions in January 2006 and then, well deserved jail time. It was with great pleasure that I read of the 30 year sentence received by Christopher “Rizler” Smith. US District Judge Michael Davis put away a man who was not only one of the Internet's most significant annoyances, but he was a complete @$$4073 to boot. I can only hope this bodes well for the prosecution in the pending trial and sentencing of Robert Soloway in January 2008.

Notorious spammer Christopher “Rizler” Smith was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge on Wednesday.

US District Judge Michael Davis called Smith a “drug kingpin” before throwing the book at him. Smith was convicted on charges of conspiracy, illegal distribution of drugs, money laundering and operating a continuing criminal enterprise.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the judge was somewhat hesitant about the length of the prison term recommended by sentencing guidelines, but in the end, decided it was reasonable.

Smith hasn’t exactly been a darling to the court system. In addition to fleeing justice abroad, he didn’t exactly make pals with the prosecution by issuing a death threat to the children of a witness in the case.

Smith was nabbed in 2005 after stepping off a flight from the Dominican Republic, where he had been operating after a federal judge shut down his Minneapolis-based spamming operation. He had fled there, allegedly using a false passport, just four days after appearing in federal court to face charges. While in the Dominican Republic, he even withdrew money that had been frozen by a previous court order.

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About Me

Russ McRee runs the Blue Team for Microsoft's Windows and Devices Group (WDG). He writes the monthly column toolsmith. Russ has spoken infosec events such Defcon, Black Hat, RSA,and FIRST and has published in the likes of Information Security, Linux Magazine, (IN)SECURE, and SysAdmin. As an advocate of a holistic approach to information security, Russ' website is holisticinfosec.org.
He also serves as a volunteer handler for the SANS Internet Storm Center.